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Mar 15, 2012

F1 Paddock talk: Return ticket to Argentina? Mar 15, 2012

A new F1 season kicks off this weekend but before that it’s like the first day of school term, complete with new uniforms and idle gossip. Here’s what’s trending right now...

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Mar 14, 2012

The new name for Sebastian Vettel’s car | F1 news Mar 14, 2012

Sebastian Vettel has revealed the name of the RB8 he will pilot at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix. She’s called Abbey after the defending world champion ruled out ‘Everybody’s Wife’ on the...

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Mar 14, 2012

Lucky Numbers: Australian Grand Prix | Formula One Mar 14, 2012

Formula One returns to Melbourne and Albert Park this weekend for the first grand prix of 2012. Arm yourself with some valuable numerical trivia ahead of the event…

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Mar 6, 2012

Formula One Tests | The return of the King? | F1 2012 Mar 6, 2012

Kimi Raikkonen topped the timesheets on the last day of winter testing while Red Bull Racing had a disappointing day. In between those two, there was a little bit of everything.

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Event Details

Location

Valencia, Spain (Map this address )

Start

JUN 24, 2011 at 12:00 AM

End

JUN 26, 2011 at 12:00 AM

About

The European Grand Prix has had a long and complex journey. It was originally created as an honorific title by the AIACR, the FIA's predecessor in the organisation of motor racing events. The first race to receive the title was the Italian Grand Prix, in 1923, it fell away during the war and was revived in 1947. In 1977 the British Grand Prix became the last race to receive the honorific title.

In 1983, the Formula One schedule originally featured a race near Flushing Meadows Park in New York. When the race was cancelled three months before the event, track organisers at Brands Hatch moved quickly to replace it with a European Grand Prix. The success of the event led to it returning on the schedule the following year. In 1990, a wealthy Japanese businessman built an extravagant race track called Nippon Autopolis with the idea of hosting a Formula One race. In 1992, plans were made to have an Asian Grand Prix added to the schedule. However, these plans failed to materialise and Bernie Ecclestone added a race at Donington Park, which brought back the European Grand Prix moniker. Several countries hosted the European Grand Prix until in 2008 when it took place in Valencia, the following year they signed a 5 year deal which puts them on the calendar until at least 2014. The Valencia Street Circuit is a semi-permanent street circuit which utilises roads around the city's port area, including a section over a 140 metre long swing bridge. The track is 5.419km (3.367m) long and incorporates a total of 25 turns – 11 right-handers and 14 left-handers. It's estimated that the track has a top speed of around 323kph (201mph), with a lap record of 1:38.683, held by Timo Glock and set during the 2009 European Grand Prix.